Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ethiopia vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Ethiopia is 12.8% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% less in Ethiopia
Groceries: pay 34.9% less in Ethiopia
Transportation: pay 3.4% less in Ethiopia
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Ethiopia
Childcare: pay 12.6% more in Ethiopia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.7% less in Ethiopia
Clothing: pay 14.2% more in Ethiopia

The cost of housing, clothing, and childcare in Ethiopia are more expensive than in South Korea. Expenses including groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Ethiopia. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ethiopia instead of South Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% less for restaurants

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.72 ₩9,865	$4.26 ETB655.54	-36.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ₩8,068	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	+18.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 ₩2,152	$0.61 ETB93.51	-58.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 ₩1,211	$0.57 ETB87.20	-31.3%
Average			-27.1%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.9% less for groceries

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Bread 1 loaf	$2.87 ₩4,217	$1.26 ETB193.73	-56.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.63 ₩8,255	$4.34 ETB667.36	-22.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 ₩11,264	$5.42 ETB834.53	-29.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.84 ₩4,162	$2.28 ETB351.02	-19.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.34 ₩4,896	$5.76 ETB886.79	+72.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 ₩4,748	$3.08 ETB473.48	-4.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩2,037	$0.43 ETB66.40	-68.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.80 ₩4,104	$1.06 ETB162.78	-62.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.40 ₩3,528	$0.40 ETB62.30	-83.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 ₩2,616	$0.28 ETB42.45	-84.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 ₩1,767	$0.91 ETB139.43	-24.8%
Average			-34.9%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.4% less for transportation

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.40 ₩6,458	$4.81 ETB740.52	+9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.17 ₩69,233	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	-74.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,440.41 ₩38,804,738	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	+108.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.33 ₩12,228	$3.62 ETB556.29	-56.6%
Average			-3.4%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.68 ₩31,824	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	+500.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$473.91 ₩695,518	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	+72.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$357.19 ₩524,216	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	+43.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.53 ₩194,509	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	-8.0%
Average			+152.0%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of housing

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pay 12.6% more for childcare

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$378.52 ₩555,533	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	-75.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,055.40 ₩22,095,763	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	+100.5%
Average			+12.6%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.7% less for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 ₩4,576	$0.90 ETB138.50	-71.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 ₩5,236	$1.09 ETB167.35	-69.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,673	$5.10 ETB784.81	+60.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.86 ₩73,176	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	+24.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.12 ₩14,850	$3.75 ETB577.06	-62.9%
Average			-23.7%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.2% more for clothing

	South Korea	Ethiopia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.46 ₩97,538	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	-32.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.68 ₩74,384	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	+48.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.74 ₩106,755	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	+29.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.23 ₩151,509	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	+11.5%
Average			+14.2%

South Korea vs. Ethiopia - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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